Crane Site
}} Overview Crane Site was the first playable map in Phantom Forces. Before it had an actual name, players simply called the map "Crane". The map has a four-story office building, a multi-story parking lot, a gas station, a garage, a partially constructed building with a sky-walk leading from the offices to the aforementioned building, a pair of silos, colored trailer, bunker and the map's defining feature - the crane. The crane is the central focus of this map, hence why it is called Crane Site. When the game was updated to Version 2.0.0, Crane Site received a visual makeover, featuring an all-new crane and redesigned buildings. Cubicles were also added to the Office Building. Objectives Strategy The most notable and iconic part of Crane Site is, unsurprisingly, the crane. It is a hotspot for snipers, particularly less-experienced ones, mainly because it provides them with the ability to snipe enemies from most parts of the map. Although it can be an effective sniping position, it is very exposed, with a user being able to be killed in most directions, including the metal grate used as the floor. A good spot to snipe on the crane would be the concrete slab on the right-hand side. However, the sniper's head can be easily spotted by a Ballistics Tracker and is still able to be shot from underneath. More skillful experienced players tend to 'farm' kills off people who camp on top of the crane. Good places to snipe players on the crane are the parking lot and office building, which offer more protection than the crane, at the cost of not being able to snipe players from most parts of the map. The map is generally friendly for sniper rifle and designated marksman rifle users, as it provides long-range sightlines where users can eliminate enemy players from a distance. However, inside the parking lot, office building and amongst the center of the map, weapons such as personal defense weapons and assault rifles fare better than DMRs. On gamemodes such as King of The Hill, these weapons provide the necessary close-quarters-combat (CQC) power needed when taking the objective. Melee weapons or other close-range weapons can also be very useful for ambushing snipers, due to the fact that the user's agility is significantly increased, meaning they can outmaneuver a sniper and kill them before they have time to react. It also provides a stealthier option for eliminating an opponent, so nearby targets may be oblivious to one's presence. It is good to wait at the top of the crane and assault those who come up. Update 4.5.0 Easter Egg In the Update 4.5.0 change log, "Puzzles added" was listed, along with a pair of eyes emoji, suggesting players to search for it. It was eventually discovered that there were a total of 12 buttons scattered in obscure locations around Crane Site. By shooting any of them, the button (which is a decal of a man wearing a ski mask) will disappear, playing a snippet of Darude - Sandstorm if the player is close enough to hear it. Some buttons are in very hard to reach locations, and many require a sniper (preferably with a high magnification scope, such as sniper rifle scopes or the VCOG 6x Scope) to be shot. Once all buttons are found and shot, Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries will play, as the Crane's top half will spin rapidly while making the sound of moving helicopter rotor blades. It eventually takes off, then flies a short distance before the music stops and an air raid siren is heard. Not long after this, there a nuclear explosion, which blinds the player and momentarily deafens them while shattering all windows on the map. Once the player regains their vision, the map will have a dark orange hue while the skybox changes. Spawned players will take 5 damage every second, eventually dying, whereby the killfeed will list the cause of death as radiation. Players can continue to spawn (and die) for 15 seconds, after which the round immediately ends in a stalemate, regardless of the current score. The next map will load as per normal. For those who were in the Stylis Studios' Discord Server, this easter egg was hinted at by Shaylan007, one of the developers of the game, prior to the buttons being discovered. The easter egg was solved in a mere 3 days mostly within the Discord server, and as of now, Shay released the locations of the buttons in both Crane Site and Desert Storm, and stated that they would disable the Easter Egg "in a few hours" - as of 28 June 2019, the Crane weapon is no longer obtainable. This Crane weapon is reminiscent of the one used in the CTE, and is a simplified version of the original Crane Site crane. Trivia * Before 2.0.0, there was an Eye of Providence on the back of the office building. ** During alpha testing, shooting the eyeball while scoped in with a sniper would warp a user the top of the radio tower for a free sniping position until they would eventually run out of ammo. *** However, teammates could simply deploy on the player and deposit their weapon to provide ammunition. * The tower in the back of the map is the same tower in the map Caspian Border from the Battlefield series. * There are a few easter eggs and cultural references in Crane Site: ** In the gas station, there is a Swedish Fish package on the shelves at the cash register. ** Litozinnamon's player model can be seen on the radio tower, waving. ** There is a Pepe flag at the very top of the radio tower. ** Before 2.0.0, all other shelves and fridges at the gasoline station were filled with Doritos and Mountain Dew, a direct reference to the MLG meme. ** The green sign near the crane humorously reads "Danger zone 9001km", which is two references in one: *** The “It's over 9000” meme, the famous line uttered by Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z; *** Kenny Loggins' song Danger Zone, which was made popular by the movie Top Gun. * In update 2.0.0, the map was revamped to be "more clean, polished and appealing" to players, while the actual Crane Site Revamped map was removed from the map roster. * This is only one of three maps to be desert-themed, the others being Desert Storm and Dunes. References Category:Maps Category:Alpha maps